1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to container displays and more specifically, to a lightweight container in which goods may be stored, shipped and displayed for use or sale.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of store displays are known. Most displays, however, are designed and utilized solely as a display and are seldom, if ever, also used as enclosures to ship or to warehouse goods. Likewise, most shipping containers are designed and utilized solely to ship and store goods and are not utilized to display the goods.
Cigar boxes are illustrative of containers which are used for both shipping and displaying goods. Such boxes have a hinged top with printing on both sides. U.S. Pat. Nos. 747,997 to Mitchell, 884,003 to Barton, 977,278 to Davidson, 1,671,184 to Foster et al., and 2,553,527 to Christian et al. teach that rigid strut members can be attached to the top and one side of a box to hold the top in an upright, open position. In all of these references the entire box is shown to be made of the same material. Furthermore, the struts are used only to hold the top in an open position. They serve no function when the container is closed.
A similar container is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 1,363,298 to Yoemans. He discloses a display box which looks very much like a shoe box having a base and a cover. Yoemans places within the box a display card having a strut positioned within a sleeve at the center of the display card. When the cover is removed from the box the display sheet is moved to an upright position and the strut is extended to hold the display sheet in that position. Then printed matter on the front of the card can be seen. Yoemans states that the card should be folded down and a cover placed onto the box in the usual way when the box is transported or stored. Thus, the teaching of Yoemans is that card stock is not a suitable material for making covers for boxes which are to be used for shipment and storage. Indeed, the field has generally believed that card stock is not strong enough to serve as a cover for containers that are used to transport and store goods.
If the limited strength of card stock could be improved, it would be an excellent cover for a container because it is inexpensive and can be easily printed. Until the present invention the art has not developed a container display which employs a lightweight top made of cardboard or card stock and yet is strong enough to allow shipment of goods in the container and stacking of the container without crushing the top.